Action for Prisoners' and Offenders' Families

Supporting families of offenders across the UK

Action for Prisoners' and Offenders' Families merged with Family Lives in 2014 and works for the benefit of prisoners' and offenders' families by supporting families who are affected by imprisonment. You can find information here about resources for families and professionals, and also our Hidden Sentencetraining for professionals working with families.

What we believe

Families should not be judged or discriminated against because of having someone in prison.

All families, parents and children affected by imprisonment or offending should have access to information, resources and services as soon as someone is sent to prison or receives a community sentence.

Contact between prisoners, offenders, and their families should be positively encouraged and duly recognised as a significant factor in reducing re-offending.

Families should be actively involved in the prisoner’s progression through their sentence from induction through to release and in policy development.

Children have the right to good quality contact with a parent in prison; to be protected from discrimination and harm. They should also have their views taken into account and have advocates speak on their behalf

Children of prisoners are more likely to underachieve and fail to reach their potential than their peers and require specific services and support

Families and children of people in prison need to be seen as families first and have their needs met accordingly

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